Monday Night Ratings Report!

The Monday night ratings are in for November 6th and it¿s relatively good news for both WCW and the WWF this week. Last week Nitro rebounded from a miserable 2.2 rating, back up to a 2.5 rating. They held steady this week, retaining the momentum they gained last week. Raw slipped all the way down to a 4.9 last week, but was able to rebound a little, moving back up to a 5.1 rating.

Ratings Breakdown

Time

Raw

Nitro

8 - 9pm

-

3.0

9 - 10pm

5.1

2.1

10 - 11pm

5.1

-

(Overrun)

(n/a)

( -- )

Overall:

5.1

2.5

Nitro Ratings Breakdown

Nitro opened with Lex Luger cutting a promo on Mark Madden and then Goldberg, for a 2.4 rating. Nitro moved up half a ratings point to a 2.9 rating for Lance Storm vs. Kwee-Wee. Shawn Stasiak vs. Reno never took place during the third segment, but Ric Flair did come out for his ¿State of WCW¿ address. He was eventually confronted by Big Poppa Pump and the segment drew a 3.3 rating, Nitro¿s highest rating this week. The first hour closed with Jindrak and O'Haire defending the tag titles for a 3.2 rating. DDP¿s return promo also began during this segment.

DDP¿s promo continued on into the second hour, where he was joined by Buff Bagwell, The Cat, Rick Steiner and the Battle Dome guys. Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner then teamed up against Sting and Buff Bagwell. The segment pulled a 2.2 rating, down a full point due to Raw starting over on TNN. General Rection defended the U.S. Title against Alex Wright for a 2.1 rating in the sixth segment. Duggan cut a promo about voting and Goldberg squashed Bam Bam Bigelow for a 2.3 rating in the following segment, then Booker T vs. Kevin Nash closed the show with a 1.9 rating.

Raw Ratings Breakdown

Raw opened with Vince McMahon enlightening us all about the importance of voting. Steve Austin eventually came out to join in on the fun, as Raw opened with a 4.7 rating. The promo continued on into the second segment, followed by The Undertaker vs. Val Venis, scoring a 5.3 rating. T&A wrestled Too Cool in the third quarter-hour, drawing a 4.9 rating. The first hour closed with DX vs. The Radicals and a 5.3 rating.

Nitro ended on TNT and the Hardy Boyz defended the Tag Titles against The RTC to begin hour two with a 5.5 rating, the highest rating on Raw. Kane vs. Steve Blackman fell to a 5.2 rating in the sixth segment, then Lawler vs. Raven, and Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz, fell to a 4.8. Angle cut a promo in the eighth segment, followed by the main event for a 5.0. No overrun number was available for Austin vs. Rikishi/Angle and Triple H revealing that he was the man behind the attacks on Stone Cold.

Overall Analysis

Not too much new to look at in the numbers this week, although the "Austin fifth segment" theory seems to have been thrown out the window. For the past couple of weeks, Raw has peaked in the fifth segment for Austin and then gone downhill from there. Even with Austin in the main event this week, Raw still peaked in the fifth segment and went downhill from there. For whatever reason, a substantial part of the TNN audience just seems to tune out after the fifth segment while the USA audience stayed with the show for its entirety.

Nitro positioned DDP late in the first hour to try hold viewers a little longer before tuning over to Raw this week. That strategy worked well when Ric Flair was in that position last week, as Nitro only dropped half a ratings point when Raw started. This week, even with DDP returning during this time slot, Nitro went down an entire ratings point when Raw started. It probably didn¿t help DDP¿s cause that Vince McMahon showed up as Raw began.

WCW¿s King of Ratings this week goes to Goldberg, as his match with Bam Bam Bigelow was the only segment in Nitro¿s second hour that actually saw an increase in the ratings. It's really hard to pick a King in the WWF this week, as several segments went up but none of them were outstanding. I'm going to give it to the Hardys this time around. Their match was the highest rated of the show and this is a consolation prize after they lost the tag titles to The RTC.